From Wikipedia: Perpetual motion describes hypothetical machines that operate or produce useful work indefinitely and, more generally, hypothetical machines that produce more work or energy than they consume, whether they might operate indefinitely or not.

Well, really, it wasn't very sneaky. Celebrations leading up to the day were actually quite messy. But the day itself was quite low-key: leave from work for the day; relaxing and chatting on Skype with Kyle in the morning. The afternoon spent with Miss Ada wandering from Victoria Station via Belgravia to South Kensington only to find the Saatchi Gallery was closed to the public for a private function; then wandering a little further to peruse the photography and Asian sections of the permanent collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum; followed by a pub dinner in Earl's Court before Jane headed to her evening's entertainment and I headed home to a long and enjoyable chat on Skype with my mum.

The original plan had been to spend the day with Jane wandering through Brompton Cemetery with our cameras, but the inclement and unpredictable weather [literally] put a dampener on that, and both of us chose to leave our cameras at home.

We did end up wandering through a graveyard at one point though, stumbling across the Royal Hospital Chelsea burial ground during our travels.

Tuesday also marked one year from the day I arrived at Hospitalfield for my one-month residency, during which the image above was taken.

100 people - #26: PaigeNow Playing: melanie c - never be the same againTopic: 100 people

I met Paige for the first time at the Home of the Viking; at one of Erik & Francesca's Sunday afternoon backyard barbeques.

I'm ashamed to admit that sometimes I'm a bit judgmental. Specifically, when I meet a really pretty girl, I sometimes assume they will know exactly how pretty they are, and be full of themselves and arrogant, and vacuous and have no sense of humour.

Within minutes Paige made me ashamed for thinking that, as she is a perfect example of why that mode of thinking is stupid.

Paige sometimes seems completely oblivious of how attractive she may be to those around her, and is the first to make fun of herself. A perfect example of this I saw a mere few days after meeting her, where she was filmed eating noodles in a very ridiculous manner. Where many of us would be worried about looking silly and / or unattractive, she really didn't mind and was just enjoying herself with friends.

This may have something to do with the fact she is an actor, but for the most part, to me, this is just because she is Paige.

We became quite good friends during my brief sojourn in Brisbane, and caught up on many occasions for drinks and shennanigans; and I was lucky enough to be commissioned to take some portraits of her (of which this was one, as we hid behind the verandah wall in fear of being told to leave, as we were trespassing).

Our day spent together wandering around an abandoned hospital building in Brisbane, around the botanical gardens and such, was very enjoyable; and I have to admit I felt more than a little disappointed I would be leaving the country so soon after and would not have the chance to photograph her again for quite a while.

Far from the delicate flower she may often seem, Paige was more than happy to shimmy up the nearest tree, barefoot, for a photo. Which, for a photographer like me, is excellent (even if I hate heights so much I'd not do the same!)

Heartbreakingly, her flat in Auchenflower was about 3/4 submerged by the floods in Brisbane a little over a week after our shoot. Her life was turned upside down and inside out for a while, and even now I can't really comprehend how this would have felt for her.

But no matter what she goes through, Paige seems to just keep coming back stronger. Learning from her experiences, learning from her friends, and moving forward all the time.

Amongst other wonderful people I met in Brisbane during my time there, I am looking forward to catching up with Paige when I next visit.

For the latest round of Divine Diptychs, I set the theme of complimentary colours, with myself and Susan selecting green and red.

Though I did trawl my archives looking for something, due to feeling a little uninspired in terms of shooting something new, I decided that I didn't want to submit an image that was the easy "go-to" of plants, and the most "diverse" predominantly green image I had was of a cactus.

With the green dress seen above in mind, I originally thought about shooting self-portraits in it with my matching green tights, but then had the idea of a bouquet of green "flower alternatives", which ended up being some tenderstem broccoli and asparagus.

As I've recently found some nail polish that dries in 40 seconds, so have actually started wearing nail polish again regularly and buying colours that match to my outfits (purple being my favourite so far), I figured I'd track down some green nail polish to complete the image in my head. The nearest I found was aquamarine, so I tweaked the overall image a little to get a more pure green colour (I also gave myself a Photoshop manicure, reapplying the nail polish to my chipped fingernails, as I polished my nails last Sunday night).

I love that Susan expanded upon her original idea by including a "pepper purse" in her image after seeing my image! I love her vibrant colours, and that we both look like we're getting ready for a prom or something, and those shoes!

I'm just catching up on a few publications I think I've been a bit lax in telling folk about, though two are very recent:

One of my images was included in the very first issue of 5x5 Magazine, with the theme of 'Self-images'. I highly recommend picking up a copy of the magazine in print, as the quality is beautiful. It took a bit longer to get into my sweaty palms than expected, but was well worth the wait! Not to mention that the cover story is about the stunning work of Sarah R. Bloom, and Susan J. Knight's work features in a piece entitled 'Inspired by Art', along with her interview about The Hive Hub & Arts Incubation Site in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada.